January 8/9: From the Pastor's Desk...

My Dear Parishioners,

This weekend the Church throughout the world celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and at the same time brings to an end our celebration of the Christmas holidays. I do hope that your celebration of Christmas and the New Year was a pleasant and happy one. Mine was quiet, peaceful, and most of all relaxing. I especially enjoyed the vacation time, and I used it to regenerate my batteries, so to speak, by simply doing nothing but reading and watching a few videos. At any rate, I do pray that this new year of 2011 will be happy, healthy and prosperous for all of you!

On this Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, we welcome Raegan Rentmeester into the faith community of the Catholic Church through the waters of Baptism at our 10 am Mass. Congratulations to her parents, Troy and Sandy, who recently joined Holy Cross Parish. We welcome them and want them to know that we are happy to have them in our parish family.

On Tuesday, January 18th, Lori and I will attend the Annual Bishop’s Appeal kickoff with a noon meeting at the Wycislo Center. This appeal supports the activities of the Bishop and the local church here in Green Bay. Years ago, we always went over our assessment, but for the past two years we have not made the assessment and have been billed by the Diocese for the amount that we failed to raise. Last year we failed to make the assessment by more than $7,000 and so I have that bill sitting on my desk because we do not have the money to pay it. Now on the 18th of January we will be told what our Bishop’s Appeal Assessment for 2011 will be. Last year our assessment was $36,156. I am sure that it will be increased for this year. I will let you know the figure after the meeting on January 18th. I do ask you to prayerfully consider making a contribution to the Annual Bishop’s Appeal. In order to pay off our outstanding bill, we will be having second collections beginning next week.

Our annual holiday open house on Sunday, December 12, fell victim to the snow storm. A few brave souls made it to the party, but most were unable to get out of their homes. The food did not go to waste—it went to a couple of families in our parish who are having a difficult time. Since many people have told me that they are disappointed they missed the party, I have decided to have a “Cabin Fever” open house on Sunday, January 23, from 3-7 pm. We will provide the recreational beverages but ask that if you are able to make an appetizer to share that you bring it with you to the party. I hope to see many of you here!

Next week we begin our journey through Ordinary Time, which will continue until March 9th, which is Ash Wednesday and the first day of our Lenten journey.

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Holy Cross Parish Church

Holy Cross Parish Family Mission Statement

Holy Cross Parish Family, with the Eucharist as our center, welcomes all God’s people through our open doors. By working together as a strong faith community, we live what we believe. Our Catholic heritage and solid educational tradition provide the foundation upon which we build for the future.